Ancient North Americans

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From celebrated anthropologist Jennifer Raff comes the untold story—and fascinating mystery—of how humans migrated to the Americas. ORIGIN is the story of who the first peoples in the Americas were, how and why they made the crossing, how they dispersed south, and how they lived based on a new and powerful kind of evidence: their complete genomes. ORIGIN provides an overview of these new histories throughout North and South America, and a glimpse into how the tools of genetics reveal details about human history and evolution. 20,000 years ago, people crossed a great land bridge from Siberia into Western Alaska and then dispersed southward into what is now called the Americas. Until we venture out to other worlds, this remains the last time our species has populated an entirely new place, and this event has been a subject of deep fascination and controversy. No written records—and scant archaeological evidence—exist to tell us what happened or how it took place. Many different models have been proposed to explain how the Americas were peopled and what happened in the thousands of years that followed. A study of both past and present, ORIGIN explores how genetics is currently being used to construct narratives that profoundly impact Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It serves as a primer for anyone interested in how genetics has become entangled with identity in the way that society addresses the question "Who is indigenous?"

Hailed on its first publication as a masterly account for both general reader and student, Ancient North America traces the entire course of native American history from the first appearance of humans in the New World more than 14,000 years ago to the cataclysmic aftermath of European settlement. This standard synthesis has now been completely revised and expanded by Professor Fagan for the second edition. Controversies over first settlement are updated. A new chapter has been added on the eastern Plains farmers and their interaction with the nomads of the Great Plains. Canadian cultures and archaeological sites receive additional attention, with expanded coverage of Northwest Coast prehistory. New sections describe the rock paintings of the Pecos area and the archaeology of the Northwest Plateau. Current theoretical issues are debated, guiding the reader through a rapidly changing field.

Unlike extant texts, this textbook treats pre-Columbian Native Americans as history makers who yet matter in our contemporary world.

Almost unimaginably immense, North America stretches from a fewdegrees short of the North Pole to a few degrees shy of theequator. Archaeologists are now racing to unravel the mysteriouspast of the forgotten peoples who once inhabited this sprawlingland. In Search of Ancient North America explores many of thesescientists' most fascinating findings as Heather Pringle chroniclesher journeys among the ancient sites of Canada and the UnitedStates. Her enthralling voyage of discovery uncovers the richnessof now-vanished cultures and illuminates the intriguing world ofarchaeology itself. Journeying from the mosquito-infested forests of the far north tothe bleak deserts of the American Southwest, Pringle accompaniesleading archaeologists and their crews into the field. At theBluefish Caves in the northern Yukon, Jacques Cinq-Mars chases downclues to an Ice Age mystery; at the "immense geometric riddle" thatis Hopeton Earthworks, Mark Lynott scours the countryside forvestiges of ancient village life; in the thorny wilderness of theLower Pecos, Solveig Turpin deciphers the enigmatic rock artpainted more than 3,000 years ago. What emerges from Pringle's accounts are surprising portraits oflong-lost cultures--the rapacious mariners of southern Californiawho nearly wiped out one of the world's most productive ecosystems;the wealthy nobles of British Columbia who wore salmon-skin shoesand counted their wealth in bottles of salmon oil; the powerfullords of the Mississippi River who won the adoration of theirfollowers with a mysterious medicinal tonic. Equally intriguing arethe controversial new theories that the author presents on a hostof subjects, from the origins of art and hallucinogenic drugs tothe rise of private property, the identities of the earliest NewWorld migrants, and the astonishing extent of trade in prehistoricNorth America. Complemented by superb color and black-and-white photographs, InSearch of Ancient North America blends incisive science journalismwith evocative travel writing to bring the latest archaeologicalfindings and interpretations to light. Delving into the previouslyunmined saga of this vast continent's lost and extinct cultures,this captivating book is a thrilling invitation to endlessdiscovery. "Drawing on some of the latest archaeological research, Pringle'sbook is vivid, witty, and responsible in a field too often filledby cranks and bores. All who are curious about life in NorthAmerica before the European invasion will find the book astimulating introduction." -- Ronald Wright author of StolenContinents "In Search of Ancient North America brings the distant past muchcloser and its inhabitants almost become neighbors to us onceagain. A first-rate examination of the mystery and fascination ofmodern archaeological research in North America." -- Farley Mowatauthor of The People of the Deer "Captures the essence of what archaeologists are learning aboutNorth American prehistory. The book is a pleasure to read and willinspire a new awareness of the importance of the history of NorthAmerica prior to European contact." -- Bruce Trigger author of TheChildren of Aataentsic

Who were the first humans to inhabit North America? According to the now familiar story, mammal hunters entered the continent some 12,000 years ago via a land bridge that spanned the Bering Sea. Distinctive stone tools belonging to the Clovis culture established the presence of these early New World people. But are the Clovis tools Asian in origin? Drawing from original archaeological analysis, paleoclimatic research, and genetic studies, noted archaeologists Dennis J. Stanford and Bruce A. Bradley challenge the old narrative and, in the process, counter traditional—and often subjective—approaches to archaeological testing for historical relatedness. The authors apply rigorous scholarship to a hypothesis that places the technological antecedents of Clovis in Europe and posits that the first Americans crossed the Atlantic by boat and arrived earlier than previously thought. Supplying archaeological and oceanographic evidence to support this assertion, the book dismantles the old paradigm while persuasively linking Clovis technology with the culture of the Solutrean people who occupied France and Spain more than 20,000 years ago.

This groundbreaking multidisciplinary book presents significant essays on historical indigenous violence in Latin America from Tierra del Fuego to central Mexico. The collection explores those uniquely human motivations and environmental variables that have led to the native peoples of Latin America engaging in warfare and ritual violence since antiquity. Based on an American Anthropological Association symposium, this book collects twelve contributions from sixteen authors, all of whom are scholars at the forefront of their fields of study. All of the chapters advance our knowledge of the causes, extent, and consequences of indigenous violence—including ritualized violence—in Latin America. Each major historical/cultural group in Latin America is addressed by at least one contributor. Incorporating the results of dozens of years of research, this volume documents evidence of warfare, violent conflict, and human sacrifice from the fifteenth century to the twentieth, including incidents that occurred before European contact. Together the chapters present a convincing argument that warfare and ritual violence have been woven into the fabric of life in Latin America since remote antiquity. For the first time, expert subject-area work on indigenous violence—archaeological, osteological, ethnographic, historical, and forensic—has been assembled in one volume. Much of this work has heretofore been dispersed across various countries and languages. With its collection into one English-language volume, all future writers—regardless of their discipline or point of view—will have a source to consult for further research. CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction Richard J. Chacon and Rubén G. Mendoza 1. Status Rivalry and Warfare in the Development and Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization Matt O’Mansky and Arthur A. Demarest 2. Aztec Militarism and Blood Sacrifice: The Archaeology and Ideology of Ritual Violence Rubén G. Mendoza 3. Territorial Expansion and Primary State Formation in Oaxaca, Mexico Charles S. Spencer 4. Images of Violence in Mesoamerican Mural Art Donald McVicker 5. Circum-Caribbean Chiefly Warfare Elsa M. Redmond 6. Conflict and Conquest in Pre-Hispanic Andean South America: Archaeological Evidence from Northern Coastal Peru John W. Verano 7. The Inti Raymi Festival among the Cotacachi and Otavalo of Highland Ecuador: Blood for the Earth Richard J. Chacon, Yamilette Chacon, and Angel Guandinango 8. Upper Amazonian Warfare Stephen Beckerman and James Yost 9. Complexity and Causality in Tupinambá Warfare William Balée 10. Hunter-Gatherers’ Aboriginal Warfare in Western Chaco Marcela Mendoza 11. The Struggle for Social Life in Fuego-Patagonia Alfredo Prieto and Rodrigo Cárdenas 12. Ethical Considerations and Conclusions Regarding Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence in Latin America Richard J. Chacon and Rubén G. Mendoza References About the Contributors Index